We entered Zion through the East Gate, and drove all the way through the park to the South Gate. And holy smokes, was it impressive. It makes you feel like you've been shrunk down; the scale is absolutely jurassic. Nothing is small here. The weather was beautiful and you could see every detail of the landscape.
Little Man's souvenir from Bryce Canyon had been a double deck of cards: one with pictures and facts about Bryce, and one with pictures and facts about Zion. As we drove, he recognized landmarks in Zion and pointed them out to us. I was pretty impressed. He really pays attention to little details, like what's written on his playing cards.
We drove through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, which is over a mile long, and was the longest tunnel in the US at the time it was built. There are occasional windows cut into it, so you catch glimpses of the towering cliff faces every so often. But the best part was driving out of the tunnel at the end: all of a sudden, an amazing, expansive view of the canyon is right there!
We arrived at the Visitors Center in the late morning and were shocked at how crowded it was. There were people everywhere: waiting for shuttle busses, renting gear, riding bikes, waiting for bathrooms. The parking lots were immense, and still it took us about 20 minutes to find a spot.
The first thing we did was walk out of Zion into the town of Springdale to get some lunch. I've never walked in or out of a national park before! A park ranger had recommended that we wait until the next day to go into the canyon, so after lunch we headed up the Watchman Trail, which starts from the Visitors' Center. It was a moderate hike but warm, since there wasn't much shade and the sun was bright. Before long, Sweet Pea started flagging, so we let her stop for a break while we continued, and we picked her back up on the way down.
After our hike we checked into the hotel. It was in the 80s by then, and the kids jumped in the pool. I couldn't believe we'd been playing in the snow the day before!
The Desert Pearl Hotel had been recommended to us by a teacher at the kids' school, and it was really cute. Springdale is tiny, but it's one of the most picturesque towns in the country, tucked between soaring canyon walls. Little Man noticed an elementary school nearby and said, "Wait, people live here?"
We woke up early the next morning to this view out the window:
You aren't allowed to drive into the canyon with your own vehicle; you have to take a shuttle bus, and the lines get long. We were in line by 7:30am, and still waited almost an hour. We took the shuttle down to the final stop in the canyon, and walked the 1-hour trail to the Narrows. We didn't get in the water, because it was running pretty fast and it was extremely cold, but it was still pretty neat to walk down and see where it starts. It's definitely something I'd like to do if I ever come back in the summer.
We were frozen solid at that point, so we took the shuttle a few stops to Zion Lodge to warm up and have a snack. The snack bar didn't have hot chocolate (they're missing out on some serious cash), so I ordered some coffee and filled it with cream and sugar. Little Man surprised me by trying some! He didn't particularly like it, but he agreed with me -- at least it was warm.
By then, the sun was shining into the canyon and it was starting to warm up, thank goodness. We did the 2-hour Emerald Pools hike, and although Sarah wasn't quite back to normal, she was able to keep up with us. The trails were fairly crowded, but the waterfalls at the end were worth it.
We ate our picnic lunch surrounded by unbelievable scenery, then hiked back to Zion Lodge via the Grotto Trail. We saw a herd of mule deer, a large beetle, and several colorful lizards. A successful and full day!
The next morning we got up early again, and drove through the park to the other side of the tunnel. I really wanted to do the Canyon Overlook Trail, and there's very little parking available. Fortunately we found a spot without too much trouble. Sweet Pea didn't feel up to a hike, so she stayed in the car. But I wish she would have come, because it ended up being a shorter hike than I anticipated, with cool features like walking under a giant rock overhang. And when we got to the top, there was a great view of the canyon. While we were admiring it, snow started falling. What an absolutely appropriate way to end our trip! We had snow at every national park we visited this spring break.
Time to head back to Vegas!
No comments:
Post a Comment